In short, old iBook with OS 10.2
Ok, so I have one of the old 1st generation iBooks-- the groovy orange ones. Since I can’t seem to sell it (and. . this is a secret. . I actually LIKE it. . it’s ergonomically pleasing to me) I’d like to try to just switch it over to 10.2 (I wouldn’t even consider getting rid of it were it not for the approching obsolescence of 9). If I stick a 256 chip in it (if possible, in any case max out RAM) and have no dreams of running graphics-heavy games on it does this sound workable?
Probably more than workable. There are plenty of websites out there that will help you upgrade, and Apple builds their machines with upgrades in mind - and maxing out the RAM might take more than you think…I’ve got an old PowerMac 9500 tower sitting by my desk waiting for some software so it can be useful again, and it can be upgraded to just over a gigabyte of RAM - it has eight memory expansion slots!
Run a google search on your exact model and words like RAM, upgrade, OS10, expansion, etc and see what you come up with. Also check out the Mac Warehouse (are they still around?). Happy hunting.
What OS are you currently running?
If you are intending on running Jaguar, definitely max out the ram. 10.2 works pretty decent on older hardware, but don’t expect it to be blazing. For web/e-mail/whatever it should be fast enough. I have a 400mhz iMac that works perfectly fine with 10.2, and I have heard people using it on far less of hardware, and having little by way of issues.
It is going to be slower than 9 though, but you can do more tasks at once. I’ve noticed that I work faster in X, because it doesn’t lock up the computer if one app is using the cpu heavily.
I’d also just pick and choose apps carefully. Safari is a good small/quick browser, and performance with it is far better than IE that is included with 10.2
And I happen to like the original iBooks… I think they are quite unique looking. My white iBook is so pedestrian in comparison.
Yeah, you should max out the RAM…
I think you just have to make sure your firmware is up to date so you can use a 256 MB stick.
bringing you to 288…
It would run…
I have a 8500 running 10.2.
It has an old 350Mhz upgrade card with 384MB RAM… and isn’t bad at all…
I use a new ibook as my main computer… but I jump on the 8500 every once in a while and it is slower… but still useable…
This page at LowEndMac.com might be of help to you.